ITOGON, Benguet – The desire and passion to serve the people continues to drive Mayor Bernard S. Waclin to seek re-election as the town’s local chief executive amidst his inability to acquire a higher level of education considering his failure to pass the previous National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) given by the government to graduating high school students at that time.
Waclin, who devoted most of his life to public service in various private and public capacities over the past four decades, was not destined to become an engineer which was his initial dream but his failure to pass the NCEE changed his destiny at a young age.
He narrated that it was quite unfortunate that he and his classmate whose family names start with the almost last letters of the alphabet, U and W, were the only ones who did not pass the entrance examination that ended their desire to acquire higher level of education and instead look for better alternatives for them to be successful in the future.
In 1984, Mayor Waclin started serving the public by serving as a jeepney driver for the Baguio-Ucab route aside from serving as a volunteer in their barangay attending to errands that allowed him to have close interactions with the people whom he served.
In 1994, he was elected as one of the barangay kagawads of Ucab and was re-elected to the same position in the 1997 barangay elections. However, by operation of law applying the current rules on succession, he became punong barangay after former barangay captain Mike Tauli was elected as one of the municipal councilors during the May 1998 presidential elections.
In 2002, he was re-elected as punong barangay during the scheduled barangay elections because of his outstanding performance when he took over the said post by virtue of succession that paved the way for him to continue displaying his inherent public service abilities to the utmost satisfaction of his constituents.
Waclin’s public service career continued to flourish when he was given an opportunity to aspire for a seat in the municipal council because of vacancies that were made available and was lucky to be one of the town’s councilors who was elected during the 2007 mid-term polls His charm, humility and sound decision making earned him the trust of his fellow municipal councilors paving the way for him to serve as the president of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL) Benguet chapter and an ex-officio member of the Benguet provincial board there by serving as punong barangay of Ucab, municipal councilor of Itogon and provincial boardmember all at the same time.
Waclin’s unwavering and uncompromising service to the people and his fellow legislators resulted to his being re-elected as a municipal council during the May 2010 presidential elections and subsequently as the PCL Benguet chapter president for the second term in a row making history as the only head of the group that was given a chance to be elect successively to lead the prestigious organization of local legislators.
While he was elected for his third term as a municipal councilor in the May 2013 mid-term polls, he was not so lucky this time to earn his third term as PCL Benguet chapter president because of alleged political intervention from higher authorities although he still continue to work hard in the municipal level apart from maintaining his rapport among his colleagues in other municipalities.
After graduating from the municipal level, Waclin sought election as a full-pledged member of the provincial board representing the province’s first district covering the towns of Itogon, Tuba, Sablan, Bokod and Kabayan where he was given the chance to be one of the four duly elected members during the May 2016 presidential elections and was again re-elected to the same post during the May 2019 mid-term polls.
In the May 2022 presidential polls, Waclin opted to aspire for the town’s mayoralty post because the late Mayor Victorio T. Palangdan was seeking the province’s congressional post as he was about to complete his three terms as the local chief executive. He was given the mandate of the people to serve as mayor for his first term and is now seeking re-election for his second term in the upcoming May 12, 2025 mid-term polls.
“For as long as your desire to serve your constituents comes from the heart, you will continue to strive for your destiny in public service because what matters is the interest of the majority of the people you want to serve,” Mayor Waclin stressed.
One of the major accomplishments of Mayor Waclin right in his first year in office is the establishment and operation of the Itogon dialysis center through the so-called public private partnership scheme as some funds from the municipal government were used to improve the facility while the 12 dialysis machines, the ambulances and some of the medical equipment being used were donations from private corporations operating in the municipality and a religious group.
The local chief executive also displayed his leadership and mediation skills as he was able to settle various disputes involving land claims, of private individuals and companies among others that paved the way for the reign of law and order in the municipality.
Waclin wants to continue serving the people of Itogon to accomplish more high impact development projects that will eventually improve the present status of the municipality and achieve further growth and progress through more employment opportunities for qualified residents, increased economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people and bring Itogon to greater heights. By Dexter A. See
